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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27398620">All That Mattered Was Getting to You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere'>swiftishere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MSA One-Shots [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mystery Skulls Animated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Canon-Atypical Memory Loss, Gen, Memory Loss, diverges at Ghost, lewis done made a MISTAKE, vivi gets punched very hard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:34:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27398620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The mansion's walls are closing around them, and the angry ghost is quickly catching up, his furious eyes still dead-set on Arthur. Vivi doesn't think, she just jumps in between them because she can't let her friend get hurt a <em>second</em> time. </p>
<p>The ghost doesn't stop.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arthur &amp; Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis &amp; Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MSA One-Shots [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1440190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All That Mattered Was Getting to You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>cw coughing up blood, unconsciousness!! vivi has a Bad Time!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
  <p>Arthur is running back down the halls, retracing the path he took not minutes ago, Vivi and Mystery and that fiery spirit all hot on his heels. He clings to the fragments of his memories as he runs, trying to rebuild the path to the exit.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He doesn't get that far. The hallway suddenly closes around him, snapping into a dead-end right in front of his face, and he skids to a halt and turns back around.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vivi and Mystery are practically at his side, and that ghost is fast approaching. It seems singularly focused on him, still, and he prays that his friends will have the good sense to run while it's distracted with killing him. Maybe his death will at least serve <em>some</em> purpose.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Then his vision is filled with blue.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><hr/>
<p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vivi can't look at the spectre, she finds when she dives in front of Arthur. She can feel the temperature steadily rising, but in her final moments she can't even get herself to face the ghost. She turns her head to the side, squeezes her eyes shut, and waits.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>She doesn't have to wait long, as it turns out. A huge, bone-plated, fire-wreathed fist connects with her chest just below the throat, and she goes flying backwards, collapsing and unable to even put her arms out to catch her eventual fall. She lands on something soft, not the hard wood she was expecting, but her brain can't even try to contemplate that because <em>oh god it </em><b><em>hurts</em></b>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her chest is throbbing, with the burning pain of a surface wound and a much deeper ache, and all the wind was knocked out of her with the punch. She gasps for breath and instantly regrets it, her throat filling with liquid instead of air. All she can do is gag and struggle to grab some small bits of breath.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The darkness behind her eyelids gradually fizzles and fades into something even darker.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><hr/>
<p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Arthur is hit, but it's not with a fist like he was expecting. Instead Vivi's body lands in his arms, completely limp because the ghost hit <em>her</em> instead of <em>him, why</em>-</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He stumbles backwards, both of them eventually dropping to the ground because he catches a glimpse of her chest and oh <em>god </em>does it look bad - the fist tore through her sweater and skin to expose a large patch of muscle. Laying haphazardly in his lap, Vivi gasps and immediately retches, blood spilling out of her mouth to stain her scarf a deep red. And then Mystery appears with his nose at her cheek and it takes all of Arthur's willpower not to jump to his feet again, mostly because he doesn't want to risk jostling Vivi.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"He's stunned," Mystery says with no context, "but I don't know for how long. We need to <em>move</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Arthur glances back up to the ghost, hazarding a guess that that's what he was referring to. It's true, the ghost has gone still suddenly - his eyes are black sockets with no hint of the light from before, he's cradling that heart in his hands and now it's a grey-blue instead of gold, and is he <em>shaking?</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Then his eyes - there's no other word for it - <em>ignite</em>. And the rest of him starts sparking as well.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shit- <em>shit</em>-" Arthur can't form a proper warning, but oh <em>fuck </em>they need to <em>go.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>It must be the adrenaline that gives him the strength to scoop up a still-coughing Vivi and bolt, despite the fact that his arms and legs feel like jelly. The mansion parts for them now, soon they're at the front doors and those swing open and he and Mystery leap out, closely followed by a blast of bright pink fire.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He doesn't, he <em>can't</em> pause to turn and check if the ghost is following them. He continues running until he's at the van and he can lay Vivi down in the back, carefully push her into that specific position Lewis so carefully instructed all of them on, and then vault over the seats and hit the gas, hoping Mystery will have the sense to get the doors closed because fuck knows he didn't think of it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Arthur- hospital," Mystery yells from the backseat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>No shit!"</em> His voice cracks, barely above a whisper. "Try to- I don't know- k-k-keep her fr-from dying!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He glances in the rearview mirror, hoping to check on Vivi. Instead he catches a glimpse of the ghost, rapidly receding from their back windshield, unmistakably glaring daggers at them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><hr/>
<p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Why did he have to <em>stop?</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>That's the question Lewis asks himself, as he watches that damned van disappearing from view, his quarry slipping out of his grasp <em>again</em>. That blue one got in the way, but she was taken care of in a matter of moments. If he had just <em>moved</em>, had grabbed that rat while he was busy staring at his fake friend, he could have had him. But instead? He'd just stood there like an idiot, reeling from that sudden stab to his anchor, and his murderer just <em>left</em>. Got up and ran out, neatly avoiding the wave of fire he'd sent after him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>For that matter, while he was asking questions of himself, what <em>happened </em>to his anchor? He'd struck her and it had just - <em>split</em>, right down the middle, leaving a huge jagged crack in its surface and a sharp pain like he was dying all over again. And then the mansion had started collapsing around him, letting that little group of pests slip out. <em>Why?</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>All that matters is getting to Arthur and having his revenge. He shouldn't <em>care</em> about the people he's with, not as anything but potential obstacles. And yet... he feels a pang of guilt. Not even that- something stronger.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>
      <s>How could I do that to her? Why?</s>
    </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>It... doesn't matter. He's just going to have to overcome whatever it is, so that <em>next time</em> he can be better.</p>
</div>
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